The Tullahoma Area Economic Development Corporation (TAEDC) is pleased to announce that Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Economic and Community Development (ECD) Commissioner Bob Rolfe announced March 22, 2017 that the Tullahoma Municipal Airport Business Park will receive $280,000 in Site Development Grant Funds.

“The airport is one of our leading assets for our City and its future,” said Mayor Lane Curlee. “I want to thank the TAEDC Board, Airport Authority and our state partners for a job well done. I appreciate everyone’s teamwork. I am pleased that when we invite companies to invest in our community, we have a great place for them. This is the only state certified site adjacent to an airport, so it is perfect for aviation oriented companies.”

Since 2013, the Tullahoma Airport, guided by the Master Plan for the Tullahoma Business Airpark, has built two aprons on the NW side of the property to service a maintenance hangar, and two privately funded maintenance hangars. A new access road has also been built. Additional development includes concrete ramp repairs, remarking the primary runway, and refurbishment of some very old taxiways, giving access to the new Tullahoma Business Airpark. These projects amount to nearly $4 million in construction and have attracted a DOD contractor, Sarasota Avionics and XP Services avionics installer.

This grant is to assist Tullahoma in preparing industrial business sites for businesses,” said executive director of the TAEDC, Thom Robinson. “With this funding, we will make improvements to the business airpark to enhance its marketability.”

“This was a Team effort by several different people and organizations, and the cooperative effort resulted in the grant award. This will help our Community enhance the marketability of this very important Business Park Resource, and will hopefully result in many new businesses and jobs over the next several years,” said Chairman of the TAEDC, Lynn Sebourn.

“I want to thank Jon Glass, airport manager; Scot St. John, consulting engineer; Nathan Ward, South Central Tennessee Development District Economic Development Specialist; Tullahoma Utilities Authority President, Brian Skelton; and TAEDC Board Member David Bond, plus Winston Brooks and Wayne Limbaugh with the City of Tullahoma, who were all part of the Grant Team,” Robinson stated. “Plus, we received a lot of assistance from TVA’s Regional Representative, Roxann Fry; Middle Tennessee Development District’s Dr. Kendrick Curtis; and the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Program Director, Leanne Cox,” he added.

The funds will be used to clear a 26-acre lot on the property of trees and bushes, making the site more immediately ready for development, and to implement drainage improvements and install some additional culverts to improve water run-off for the adjacent taxiways serving the Airpark. “It’s a tremendous help in the fact that it’s going to make the property more marketable,” said Robinson.

“And we also want to thank Ted Hackney, Kimber Sharp, and Teresa Burnette with the Coffee County Industrial Board who provided helpful advice as we went through the application and interview. They successfully went through the process last year and were able to make several recommendations that helped improve our application,” said Robinson.

“Providing more opportunities for citizens in rural Tennessee is one of our top priorities and with the assistance of the Site Development Grants, the rural communities receiving these grants will be ready for investment and economic success,” Haslam said. “We are strengthening our future workforce through programs like Tennessee Promise, and I look forward to seeing these 18 communities succeed and grow for the next generation of Tennesseans.”

“I want to congratulate all 18 communities on being awarded the Site Development Grants,” Rolfe said. “These grants are designed to assist rural Tennessee communities to be better equipped for economic growth. We are proud to see these communities investing in themselves and anticipate seeing each community thrive in our state.”

An advisory committee of staff from TNECD, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture selected these 18 sites from a pool of 28 applications. The application process was competitive with grants awarded based on benefit to the community, economic impact, leveraged resources, and ability to implement a successful project.

Each application was supported by the community’s senator and representatives in the Tennessee.

The Tullahoma Municipal Airport was also recently named the 2017 Tennessee Airport of the Year by the Tennessee Aeronautics Commission.

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